Expect to there to be a lot of attention focused on Ryan Howard and his success or struggles in hitting the curve ball this year.
Philly.com’s Bill Conlin points out that Sports Illustrated writer Tom Verducci has predicted that Ryan Howard’s problems in hitting the curveball will cause his career to head to the bottom abruptly on a downward spiral.
Verducci has let it be known that Howard saw more curve balls than any other hitter in the league and he’s probably going to see even more breaking balls this season because of the way he struggled against them in the World Series.
It’s quite a prediction when you consider the success Howard has had so far in his career.
Think about the fact that Howard is currently the greatest power hitter of our generation. He’s won one MVP award and been close to winning it in each of his four full seasons.
He’s done things as a power hitter which have never been accomplished by anybody in the history of baseball and that includes Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and etc.
The big guy has averaged nearly 50 home runs and over 143 RBI”s in the four full seasons in the majors.
Remember, also that Howard has gotten to two hundred home runs faster than any hitter in the history of the game.
I’m going to put my money on the big guy. Let teams throw him all those curveballs and he will make the adjustments and make them pay.
We know that he can hit the curve ball because he’s at his best when he’s jacking the inside fastball out of the park to rightfield and going the other way with that outside curveball and hitting it out to left.
